William B. Cooley High School



Introduction

William B. Cooley is a High School in Providence located at 182 Thurbers Ave. During the 2009-2010 academic year, there will be 396 students and 31 teachers at the high school. The principal at William B. Cooley High School is Dr Mator Pangbai and the vice principal is Mr. Vilai Or. Classes begin at 8:15 Monday through Friday and students are released at 2:50 Monday through Thursday and 1:15 on Fridays. At William B. Cooley High School, there are many programs offered to the students including after school activities such as basketball, baseball, dance, chorus, debate, yearbook and much more. Other programs that are popular at the school are Vocational Programs such as Health Careers and Science and Technology.


Community Background

In 2008, the population for providence was 171,557 people and 52% of the people were female and 48% were male. Of the 171,557 people in Providence City, 96.4% of the people or 164,010 people are one race leaving 3.6% of people being two races or more. About 48.5% of the people in Providence are of White race, 15% are Black or African American, 5.9% are Asian and 26.2% were other race.


District Summary

In the providence district, there are 25,190 students who are taught by 1840 teachers. The ratio for students to teachers is 1 teacher to every 13 students. The average SAT scores of Providence high school students are 398 in mathematics, 406 in verbal, and 398 in writing. Only 58% of Providence high school seniors took the SAT’s back in 2007. The SAT scores for Providence students fall below the state average in all categories. Providence spends the most money on expenditures by spending $81,313,363 but only $15,233 per student. Providence doesn't spend the most money on each student but doesn't not spend the least either. In providence, 59% of students come from Hispanic backgrounds, with 22% coming from black or African American background, 12% coming from white background, 6% Asian and 1% coming from Native American background. Of all the students in Providence, 66% of them are eligible for free or reduced lunches.

School Analysis

William B. Cooley High School is an inner city school in providence. 86% of the students at the high school come from either Hispanic or African American backgrounds (Kids Count 2009). Most of the student body speaks at least two languages and most speak both English and Spanish Fluently. Also there is a good amount of students at William B. Cooley high school that are not fluent in English. Those students come from other countries and are thrown into the school system without being able to speak English very well. Since some students cannot speak English well, William B. Cooley has programs to help the students learn and speak English.
William B. Cooley high school has been underachieving the last few years in Mathematics and English Language Arts proficiency. During the 2006-07 school year, only 12% of males were proficient in Mathematics and only 19% of males were proficient in English Language Arts. For females, only 11% were proficient in Mathematics and 32% were in English Language Arts (Info Works! 2008). The average SAT scores were 365 in math, 389 in verbal, and 369 in writing (Info Works! 2008). Also only 32% of seniors at William B. Cooley took the SAT test during the 2006-07 school year (Info Works! 2008). When the students took the NECAP tests during the 2007-08 year, only 9% were proficient in math, 36% in reading and 25% in writing (Info Works! NECAP 2008).
There is a 12% drop out rate at William B. Cooley High School but that is lower than the 18% average at other high schools in Providence (Info Works 2008). Also the graduation rate of 88% is one percent lower than the average graduation rate of all high schools in Rhode Island (Info Works 2008). About 85% of students attend school on a regular basis (Info Works! 2008). Also about 90% of students attend high school on a regular basis in Rhode Island schools, making this school having a pretty good attendance and graduation rate (Info Works! 2008).

Conclusion

Although the students are underperforming, the teachers and staff at William B. Cooley encourage the students to try their best and work harder. Every day during the announcements, the vice principal tells the students to try their best and work hard throughout the day. While the students have made some progress but there is more to be done. The scores of the NECAP test needs to be improved and also the proficiency in Mathematics and English Language Arts does as well. While the scores are low, I feel the within time, the scores will be right there with the average of Rhode Island school or even better than average. But overall, William B. Cooley High School is a good school that just needs to improve their level of education.

References

"InfoWorks: NECAP,2009." Info Works.2009.Infoworks. 19 Oct. 2009.
http://infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2008/state/necap-high.pdf
"Rhode Island, Providence. Kids Count. 2009." Kids Count. 2009. April 3 2009. http://rikidscount.org/matriarch/documents/Providence2009%282%29.pdf
"InfoWorks: William B. Cooley School Reports. 2008" Info Works. "2008."
http://infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2008/queries/FindSch.asp?ID=28189

"US Census Bureau" 2009 Census. 2009. October 21. 2009
http://www.factfinder.census.gov
Rubric for Peer Edit #1
Introduction = REPLACEWITHSCORE/ 5 pts.
5 - Intro provides an overview of the upcoming analysis, including what school/district/community is being analyzed, what aspects are being analyzed, and who the report is intended to inform.
4 - Intro names the school/district/community and previews the scope of the report, but does not describe who the report is intended to inform.
3 - Intro names the school/district/community but not much else.
2 - Intro fails to name the school, district, and community.
0 - No introduction section is apparent.
Constructive comments about report's introduction:


Organization = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.

5 - Report includes an Introduction, a Conclusion, and sections for the School, District, and Community. Within each section, paragraphs logically group the information presented.
4 - Report includes all of the sections mentioned previously, but does not break down information into paragraphs within each section.
3 - Report is missing one of the sections.
2 - Report is missing more than one section.
0 - Report does not include any sections.
Strengths and constructive comments about report's organization:


Mechanics = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.

5 - All information in the report is cited using APA styled- citations after the information and in a Reference section at the end of the report.

and

There are extremely few typos and misspelled words in the report.
4 - Most information is cited using APA style.

and/or

There are a noticeable number of typos or misspellings.
3 - Some citations in the References section are not in APA style, e.g. URLs are listed without the title of the website.

and/or

There are many typos, misspellings, or other writing errors.
2 - Most of the report's information is not cited, or APA style was not used.
0 - Report does not include a Reference section.
Strengths and constructive comments about report's organization:


Conclusion = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.

5 - Conclusion reviews analysis of school, district and community and describes why findings should be important to reader.
4 - Conclusion reviews analysis of school, district and community.
3 - Conclusion does not refer back to report findings.
0 - No conclusion section is apparent.
Strengths and constructive comments about conclusion:


Creativity = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.

5 - Report is written in an engaging style.
4 - Report has some interesting sections.
3 - Report generally reports information without seemingly without purpose.
Strengths and constructive comments about presentation:


Thoroughness = REPLACEWITHSCORE /10 pts

5 - Report includes at least ten different facts in each section (school, community, district) and

compares each figure with another relevant figure (e.g. state or national average) and

states whether or not the school is meeting NCLB standards.
4 - Report includes at least eight different facts in each section and

compares most figures with relevant values and

states whether or not the school is meeting NCLB standards.
3 - Report includes at least six different facts in each section and

compares some of the figures to other relevant figures
2 - Report includes at least four different facts in each section and

compares some of the figures to other relevant figures.
0 - Report includes less than four different facts for any section or

fails to compare any figures with other relevant figures.

Rubric for Peer Edit #2


Introduction = REPLACEWITHSCORE/ 5 pts.

5 - Intro provides an overview of the upcoming analysis, including what school/district/community is being analyzed, what aspects are being analyzed, and who the report is intended to inform.
4 - Intro names the school/district/community and previews the scope of the report, but does not describe who the report is intended to inform.
3 - Intro names the school/district/community but not much else.
2 - Intro fails to name the school, district, and community.
0 - No introduction section is apparent.
Constructive comments about report's introduction:


Organization = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.

5 - Report includes an Introduction, a Conclusion, and sections for the School, District, and Community. Within each section, paragraphs logically group the information presented.
4 - Report includes all of the sections mentioned previously, but does not break down information into paragraphs within each section.
3 - Report is missing one of the sections.
2 - Report is missing more than one section.
0 - Report does not include any sections.
Strengths and constructive comments about report's organization:


Mechanics = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.

5 - All information in the report is cited using APA styled- citations after the information and in a Reference section at the end of the report.

and

There are extremely few typos and misspelled words in the report.
4 - Most information is cited using APA style.

and/or

There are a noticeable number of typos or misspellings.
3 - Some citations in the References section are not in APA style, e.g. URLs are listed without the title of the website.

and/or

There are many typos, misspellings, or other writing errors.
2 - Most of the report's information is not cited, or APA style was not used.
0 - Report does not include a Reference section.
Strengths and constructive comments about report's organization:


Conclusion = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.

5 - Conclusion reviews analysis of school, district and community and describes why findings should be important to reader.
4 - Conclusion reviews analysis of school, district and community.
3 - Conclusion does not refer back to report findings.
0 - No conclusion section is apparent.
Strengths and constructive comments about conclusion:


Creativity = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.

5 - Report is written in an engaging style.
4 - Report has some interesting sections.
3 - Report generally reports information without seemingly without purpose.
Strengths and constructive comments about presentation:


Thoroughness = REPLACEWITHSCORE /10 pts

5 - Report includes at least ten different facts in each section (school, community, district) and

compares each figure with another relevant figure (e.g. state or national average) and

states whether or not the school is meeting NCLB standards.
4 - Report includes at least eight different facts in each section and

compares most figures with relevant values and

states whether or not the school is meeting NCLB standards.
3 - Report includes at least six different facts in each section and

compares some of the figures to other relevant figures
2 - Report includes at least four different facts in each section and

compares some of the figures to other relevant figures.
0 - Report includes less than four different facts for any section or

fails to compare any figures with other relevant figures.